to others, as I collect from the following paffage in the ftatutes of Ewelme-hofpital, in Oxfordshire, given by William de la Poole, Duke of Suffolk, the founder, in the reign of Henry VI. "Provyded that "all the chyldren of our chapelle..... be taught, &c." That is, the children of the chapel in his manor house at Ewelme, who were to be taught free, with others, in the neighbouring hofpital he had newly founded. The change of manners in departing from this magnificence of living, was certainly the fecret cause of diminishing the power of the barons; and perhaps more effectually contributed to this purpose, than the laws, and other checks, profeffedly made against feudal jurisdiction.

B. v. c. ix. f. xxix.

Whilft KINGS and KESARS at her feet did them proftrate.

Spenfer frequently uses the expreffion kings and kefars.

The captive hearts

Of KINGS and KESARS.

4. 7. 1.

This is the ftate of KESARS and of KINGS. 6. 3. 5.

Mighty KINGS and KESARS into thraldom brought,

3. 11, 29.

* Printed in Hearne's Chronicon. I. Whethamstede, vol. 2. p. 544.

Ne

Ne KESAR fpared he awhit nor KINGS. 6. 12. 28.

1

It is a very antient form of speaking, and is found, among other poets, in the Visions of Pierce Plowman.

Death came driving after, and all to duft pashed
KYNGES and KAYSERS, knights and popes *.

I fhall here fulfil my promise of giving fome account of those visions.

The author of the Visions of PIERCE PLOWMAN, is Roberte Longelande, or Langelande, according to Balet, and in the prefaces prefixed to the different editions. By Wood ‡, he is called Malverne, as well as Langland. It is plain that his poem called the Vifions of Pierce Plowman, was published after the year 1350, from the following paffage, perhaps after 1370.

In date of our bryghte, in a drye Apriell

A thoufand and three hundred twyfe twentye and ten,
My wafers ther wer geifen, when Chichester was Mair.

It was not unfamiliar in Ben. Jonfon's time; thus, in his Tale of a Tub, act. 2. fc. 2.

Tu. I charge you in the queen's name keep the peace.
Hil. Tell me o' no QUEENE OF KERSAR.

It occurs likewife in Harrington's Ariofto, c. 44. f. 47.
For myters, ftates, nor crownes may not exclude

Popes, mightie KYNGS, nor KEYSARS from the fame.

† Script. Brit. cent. 6. 37.

Hift. et Antiq. Univ. Oxon, b, 2. p. 106.

§ Paff. 13.

So

So that feveral of Gower's and Chaucer's pieces probably made their appearance before it. It is divided into twenty parts, Passus, as he ftiles them; and confifts of many diftinct vifions, which have no mutual dependance upon each other; fo that the poem is not a regular and uniform whole, confifting of one action or design. The author feems to have intended it as a fatire on almost every occupation of life, but more particularly on the clergy; in cenfuring whom Wickliff had led the way not many years before. This piece abounds with humour, fpirit, and imagination; all which appear to great disadvantage in uncouth verfification, and obfolete language. It is evidently written without rhyme, an ornament which the poet has endeavoured to fupply, by making every verse consist of words beginning with the fame letter. This practise has contributed not a little to render his poem obfcure and perplexed, exclufive of its antique ftyle; for to introduce his alliteration, he must have been often neceffarily compelled to depart from the natural and obvious mode of expreffion. The learned Dr. Hickes. obferves, that this alliterative verfification was drawn by Langland from the practice of the faxon poets, and that these vifions are almoft written in faxon. "Hac obiter ex fatyrographo noftro [Langlande] cui Anglo-faxonum poeta adeo familiares fuerunt, ut non folum eorum

And

verbis verfus fcripfit, fed tinnitum illum consonantem initialium apud eos literarum imitatus eft, et nonnunquam etiam verfus tantum non Saxonicè condidit *” afterwards, fpeaking of the anglo-faxon poems, he adds this of their alliteration. obfervandum offert, dictionum ab pientium ufus non infrequens †.'

Quorum in primis fe eâdem initiali literâ inci

Hence it appears, that

the example of Gower and Chaucer, who fought to reform the roughness of their native tongue, by naturalizing many new words from the latin, french, and italian, and who introduced the seven-lined ftanza, from Petrarch and Dante, into our poetry, had little influence upon Longland, who chose rather to go back to the faxon models, both for language and form of verse. However, he might have fettled his plan of ftile and verfification before he faw any of their poems.

As a fpecimen of his manner, I transcribe some of the firft verfes.

In a fummer season, when fet was the fun,

I fhoupe me into the fhroubes as I a shepe were ;
In habit as a hermet, unholie of werkes,

Went wide into the world wonders to hear.

And on a may-morning, on Maluerne-hylles,

* Linguar. Vett, Septentrion. Thefaurus. cap. 21. pag. 107.

Me befel a ferly, a fairy methought,
I was wery a wandering, &c *.

In these verfes there is a manifeft contradiction; for the poet fays, that the fun was fett, and that it was a may-morning. Therefore, in the first line, inftead of SETTE was the fun, we fhould read,

For Bale, (ubi fupra) speaking of this work, thus tranflates the firft line of it.

In aftivo tempore cum fol CALERET.

And it should be remembered, that Bale had an opportunity of quoting from the most original editions.

But this conjectural emendation of the word fette, which word is found in all the printed copies, was made before I had seen three manuscripts of this poem in the Bodleian library †, in all which the first verse is thus written.

In a fummer feason, when soFTE was the fun.

This reading also preserves the alliteration. By the way, as Mr. Lye obferved to me, BRYGHTE, above

* Paff. I. v. I. &c.

† Mfs. Laud F. 22. and Mss, Digby 102 and 108.

fhould